This was me with the TV series. Most of the first and second season are hard sci-if in the strictest sense. Just what the protomolecule is remained a mystery, but but it was a tiny alien enigma within a realistic near-term hard sci-fi universe that was and still is unlike anything else on TV.
Then the big reveal happened (in season 3, I think?) and it’s like the bottom dropped out. I legit stopped watching at that point, although I’m considering giving it another chance now. Had I known upfront I think I would have been more forgiving, but instead I felt deceived.
All that said, the Epstein drive is nearly as magic as the usual hyperspace trope. Even in the beginning The Expanse isn’t as hard sci-fi as it purports to be.
Then the big reveal happened (in season 3, I think?) and it’s like the bottom dropped out. I legit stopped watching at that point, although I’m considering giving it another chance now. Had I known upfront I think I would have been more forgiving, but instead I felt deceived.
All that said, the Epstein drive is nearly as magic as the usual hyperspace trope. Even in the beginning The Expanse isn’t as hard sci-fi as it purports to be.